A defense company that got a federal contract with help from then-Republican Rep. Jim Gibbons, now governor of Nevada, hired Gibbons' wife to do consulting work, according to a published report Friday.

Over the years, families have used religious symbols such as the Jewish Star of David, the Christian cross and the Islamic crescent and star to honor their loved ones on headstones and markers. For Sgt. Patrick Stewart's family, the symbol of choice was also from his religion: the Wiccan pentacle.

The scientists stood waiting for a read-out from a hand-held Geiger counter-type machine placed next to a large corrugated metal shipping container. During the test at the Radiological-Nuclear Countermeasures Test and Evaluation Complex in the Nevada desert, the equipment failed to identify the plutonium in the container. On a second try, it worked.

A government scientist falsified documents related to the Yucca Mountain project, the Department of Energy said Wednesday, further jeopardizing the proposed high-level nuclear waste repository slated for southern Nevada.